chapter 19: Experiment

The next day.

Morning.

Under Orochimaru's guidance, Baishi met Yamato for the "first time."

Unlike Orochimaru, who was fully armed, Yamato was only wearing a hospital gown, looking more like a patient than a ninja. However, judging from his demeanor, it was clear that he had seen blood.

'It seems Danzo hasn't given up on him.

After all, if he had really given up, this experiment wouldn't be happening.'

While Baishi was contemplating this, Orochimaru spoke up: "Number 17, come meet your senior."

As he spoke, he pointed at Baishi and added, "Number 36."

Upon hearing the designation "Number 36," Yamato immediately reacted, his numb gaze piercing into Baishi's heart.

Seeing such a look in his eyes, Baishi quickly realized that in this lifetime, Yamato probably hadn't undergone Danzo's rigorous training. His upbringing was likely similar to other Root ninjas—one that involved a brutal survival of the fittest.

'Who knows if he can still become that Yamato in the future?'

'Uh, probably not, especially since I'm here. There's no way the timeline will remain the same as in my past life.'

The two exchanged glances, and Baishi's thoughts raced.

After a long pause, with neither of them speaking, Orochimaru decided to stop wasting time and began the experiment.

He first drew a vial of blood from Baishi, then, without explaining, he started working with the samples in a petri dish. The blood turned a pale red.

Next, he added some random substances, causing Baishi's brow to twitch in discomfort.

After a considerable amount of time, the initial vial of blood had transformed into a pale green liquid, somewhat resembling the first generation's cell extraction liquid.

Only then did Orochimaru stop his actions, muttering to himself, "Finally got it done!"

Hearing this, Yamato instinctively extended his arm, silently complying.

"Hehe~"

Orochimaru chuckled a couple of times, picked up a syringe, drew the liquid from the vial, and injected it all into Yamato's body.

Once these tasks were completed, Orochimaru fell silent, quietly standing by, his eager gaze fixed on Yamato, seemingly awaiting something to happen.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

Ten full minutes passed, and there was still no change in Yamato, leaving Baishi utterly confused and unsure what he was meant to do now.

'If this is all there is to it, was there really any need for me to come here personally? Couldn't they just have drawn my blood directly?'

Baishi wanted to ask, but although he shared a certain understanding with Orochimaru, he didn't trust him completely.

Beneath his mask, Baishi wore a blank expression and began to contemplate how to escape.

Although he had already resolved to run away, he couldn't just leave boldly; he needed to find a suitable opportunity.

Additionally, if possible, he wanted to take advantage of the situation before fleeing.

After all, after being fervently soaked by Orochimaru and Danzo like wine in a jar for two years, and having acted as Danzo's loyal dog for so long, he couldn't leave empty-handed.

Previously, whether to keep him focused or as a precaution, Danzo only allowed him to learn part of the Wood Release and Earth-Water elemental techniques, preventing him from accessing any knowledge related to sealing techniques, genjutsu, or the like.

After leaving Konoha, it would be very difficult for him to access such knowledge again. Although he had the 'system' to aid his growth and didn't have to worry about reaching a limit, he still needed some protection methods in the early stages.

Thus, this opportunity couldn't be missed.

"Hum~"

Suddenly, a muffled grunt broke Baishi's train of thought.

He turned to look and saw a sapling had inexplicably sprouted from Yamato's body.

Next, the sapling grew rapidly, erupting through his flesh within moments, nearly covering half of his body.

This scene was strikingly reminiscent of those uncontrolled test subjects from before.

An inexplicable surge of anger welled up in Baishi's heart once again.

Just then, Orochimaru's voice sounded: "Number 36, use your chakra to suppress those uncontrollable first-generation cells."

Baishi was momentarily stunned by the command, but without overthinking it, he stepped forward and placed his hand on Yamato's abdomen.

Then, he gathered his chakra in his palm, pushing it through the skin and forcefully entering Yamato's body.

At that moment, a familiar sensation washed over him.

'What is this?'

Instinctively, Baishi directed his chakra toward it, and soon he realized the source of that familiarity.

It turned out that those were his cells.

In that instant, Baishi thought of Senju Hashirama, who, even after being reincarnated through Impure World Reincarnation, could still sense his own cells.

His current situation was remarkably similar, the only difference being that he couldn't sense them from a distance yet and needed direct chakra contact to perceive them clearly.

But that didn't matter; the key point was that he could establish a connection with the external cells through his chakra.

'If I can connect, can I also control them?'

With that thought, Baishi transmitted his will to those cells via his chakra.

In the next moment, he distinctly felt his cells within Yamato subtly tremble.

'So it can be done!'

Realizing this, Baishi instantly understood Orochimaru's purpose for bringing him over.

'In other words, Orochimaru had already guessed that I would be able to control these cells.'

Suddenly, Baishi turned to Orochimaru.

Seeing this, Orochimaru gave a couple of soft laughs and remarked meaningfully, "You should now be able to resolve Number 17's loss of control, right?"

Although it sounded like a question, Baishi could hear the certainty in his tone.

At that moment, Baishi fully recognized Orochimaru's genius.

It's important to note that the current Orochimaru was not the Orochimaru from over ten years later. He hadn't yet learned forbidden techniques like Impure World Reincarnation, but his research into the nature of the human body and chakra had already far surpassed anyone else.

Merely through his study of the first-generation cells, he was able to deduce the current situation—one could hardly call that anything but clever.

Just as he had said, Baishi could easily resolve Yamato's loss of control right now.

With that thought in mind, Baishi ignored Orochimaru and redirected his focus to Yamato.

Then, using chakra as a medium, he controlled his own cells to launch a counterattack against the first-generation cells that were rampaging within Yamato, leveraging their incredible adaptability.

In that moment, it was like two armies clashing.

One side was chaotic and without order, while the other followed commands clearly—the outcome was already predetermined.

In just a short while, Baishi's side achieved a decisive victory, completely devouring the first-generation cells, and Yamato's uncontrolled state vanished.

Afterward, as Baishi commanded his own cells to commit self-destruction, Yamato's crisis was thoroughly resolved.

However, even so, Yamato appeared to have fallen gravely ill, his complexion very pale.

If such abuse occurred several more times, Baishi estimated it would significantly shorten Yamato's lifespan.

Nevertheless, based on the two-week timeline, both Danzo and Orochimaru would not care about this issue.

Thus, this experiment was destined not to be the only one.

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